Till the End of Time
by sarijw
Summary: 10Rose. Companion piece and spoilers to Only Time and Time After Time. 'If I had known that the last time I hugged him or kissed him would’ve been the last time, I would’ve paid a lot more attention. And I would’ve held on for dear life.'
1. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Third piece to _Only Time_ and _Time After Time_. Will likely have three parts, possibly four. Hopefully the plot bunnies will leave me alone after this, for a little bit at least.

Spoilers: TenRose, natch. Spoilers throughout series two, just to be safe. Spoilers for _Only Time _and _Time After Time_. Angst McAngsty.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but that doesn't mean I can't make DT happy while I'm borrowing him..._

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Time becomes. _

Rose stood in the kitchen, making peanut butter sandwiches for Jack's school lunch and wondered if this is what the Doctor meant by fantastic life.

She listened to the giggles tripping down the stairs from the kids' rooms as they ran back and forth while Jack was getting ready for school. She called up the stairs to them before she packed Jack's lunch in his school bag and was just setting the dishwasher when Jack appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his little sister perched precariously on his hip.

As always, Rose found herself staring at the boy who would become his father.

He was on the small side of slender, almost skinny, with his thick tuft of dark hair and piercing dark eyes. She imagined it much like she was looking back in time and seeing the Doctor as he would've been if he'd grown up in the body he had when she last saw him.

Had he regenerated since then? Had he run out of regenerations, or had he maybe not been fast enough, quick enough, smart or witty enough to get away one time too many?

The one thing she regretted the most was that she would never know. For all she knew, he had found another companion, another her and moved on.

Letting that thought stab a little, she sighed. She felt like feeling sorry for herself.

She helped Jack get his bag on and he kissed her cheek before he ran from the kitchen, from the house and over to the main house to his granddad.

Pete may have barely been her father and true, looked as uncomfortable as hell when she called him Dad, but he was an amazing granddad to her kids and that was good enough for her.

She dressed herself and Cathica and they toddled down to the beach of the nearby lake, hand in hand.

No, she wasn't happy. But she was content and that would do.

Four year-old Cathica found delight in everything and Rose found delight in her. Jackie often commented that Rose had been just the same, but Rose couldn't see herself in Cathica. She only saw him.

Her mum was already on the beach when she and Cathica arrived and Rose let her daughter's hand go so she could run to her Gran. Rose sat next to Jackie on the blanket, silently taking the kiss on the cheek.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Nothing's wrong, Mum. Nothing more than has been."

Jackie knew it was coming up on the anniversary of their arrival in this world, but she didn't bring it up. Rose already knew.

Sometimes Rose wondered if she'd done the right thing. The Doctor had moved on, she was sure. He always had moved on, he said so. Rose grew stagnant.

"It's just…" Rose tried to stop the hard ball of tears in her throat, but she couldn't. She swallowed again. "You know, like when Dad died. If you had known he was going to die, would you have fought with him right before?"

"No, of course not, Rose."

"If I had known that the last time I hugged him or kissed him would've been the last time, I would've paid a lot more attention. And I would've held on for dear life."

"That's why you couldn't know. Why no one should know. Because if we never let go, how can we move on?"

"Mum?"

"No, listen, Rose." Jackie tucked a stray strand of Rose's blonde hair behind her ear and ran a hand over her hair, kissing her temple. "It took me a long, long time to get over your dad. A long time. You don't remember, because you were a baby. But no one blames you for what you feel or if sometimes you cry a little bit more. You didn't only lose the Doctor, you lost your entire way of life and have been forced to settle for what you never wanted. It's hard. No one blames you."

"I've just been such a git, crying my eyes out lately." Concern creased Jackie's forehead and she turned to watch Cathica building a sand pile.

"Are you pregnant again?" Rose let out a breath, a strained laugh.

"God, I hope not."

"Me too."

"Do you think he moved on, Mum?" Jackie was silent and Rose turned to her, teeth worrying her lower lip.

"I think he moved on," Jackie started slowly, as if weighing each of her words carefully. "I think he moved on, but not easily. He didn't just lose you Rose, he lost his entire family." Rose snorted.

"Come off it, Mum, you couldn't stand him."

"I could. I liked him, I did!" She insisted when Rose began to protest. "I had issues with him, but I'd have issues with any man you were serious about."

"You didn't have any issues with Mickey."

"I knew you wouldn't last. You were too good of friends to ever—"

But the rest of Jackie's words were cut off and she and Rose both looking up to the blindingly blue sky. The sound of a ripping engine was deafening. Cathica began to wail, covering her ears and Rose clambered up, picking up her little girl and rubbing her back, looking up at the sky.

"Do you think it's a plane?" Jackie shouted. "We should call Emergency!"

Suddenly there was a bone-jarring crash, just beyond the hills at the edge of the beach. The silence that followed was just as deafening as the crash before it and Rose kissed Cathica before handing her off to Jackie.

"I'm going to see what happened, stay here. Keep your mobile on!"

_Time repairs_.

Groaning, the Doctor held his head and stumbled out of the battered time ship, looking around. The air was quiet, the only sound the gentle lapping of water on the beach. A gull cried overhead and he looked up quickly, cursing when his head gave a sharp pain.

"I bloody well better not be in Norway," he grumbled, seeing the rocks. Frowning, he decided the sky looked decidedly British before turning back into the TARDIS to collect Martha.

She grinned when their eyes met and he felt himself trying to grin back, but he couldn't yet. They'd made it through _some_ particular crack but he wasn't sure which one and didn't even know if they'd landed on the right Earth.

The navigation console had blinked out almost right away and he'd had to fly blind and hope for the best. The console room was jumbled from their particularly ungraceful landing, the room dark without the glow from the central column.

The Doctor stepped aside and let Martha out before following and locking the door behind them.

Martha moved ahead of him, climbing up a rock outcropping to get a better view of their surroundings. The Doctor watched her as he climbed up behind her, her body tensed, ready to spring.

"Don't tell me, we landed on that damn Melan planet again, with all those nuclear…" He came up next to Martha and felt his, this world drop out from under him.

She hadn't changed.

That was his first thought.

She was still small and slender, her hair still that bright sunshine blonde that he knew wasn't natural but loved so much. It was longer now, nearly to her elbows, like it had been when they first met, but nothing else had changed, even down to the kohl black eyeliner around her eyes.

"Rose," he whispered, and felt Martha's hand on his back, supporting him.

How long had it been? Years and years, but how many? He didn't know. Time changed for him, constantly, and he had long since stopped counting the days.

He skidded down the front of the rocks, landing in the sand unceremoniously and almost tipping over. He moved closer to where Rose'd stopped upon seeing Martha, where she stood, searching his face.

"Rose," he said again, voice a little bit firmer, but not really. She hadn't moved, unless you counted the increase in her pulse or the rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

And then he cursed again because he was really in Norway after all and she was only an image, not his real Rose and now they were stuck here because he'd broken the TARDIS.

And then she spoke and he felt something inside crack.

"Doctor?" Her hand reached out, much like it had however many years ago, only this time he grabbed it, holding it to his cheek before stepping forward and gathering her in his arms, lifting her off his feet, holding her as close he could without taking her inside himself.

She cried and he cried and he just held her as she soaked the shoulder of his jacket. As the shaking began to subside and her body calmed enough to only give off little tremors, he let her slide down to her feet, cupping her face in his hands.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered. Her fingertips brushed across the scar on his temple, the smaller one on his jaw.

"I came to get you, Rose Tyler. Can't be without my plus one, can I?"

_Time moves on_.

When Jackie Tyler finally climbed over the rocks on her side, a wriggling child in her arms, she stopped so hard that her feet slipped out from beneath her and she landed on her bum with an "oof," Cathica clapping and shouting again, again! Wincing at the soreness that she knew would double by morning, she hushed Cathica and watched the couple on the beach.

She watched as her oldest daughter hugged the Doctor again and heard his laugh as he spun her around.

Jackie never thought she'd welcome the day the Doctor was in her daughter's life, but if she was honest with herself, she'd missed him, too and she was always honest with herself.

She climbed up again, wincing at the pain and made her way down the rest of the rocks, standing in the sand. Rose said something else to the Doctor and suddenly he looked her way, his handsome, slender face breaking into a huge smile. He kissed Rose's forehead before making his way to Jackie.

Jackie put Cathica down and Cathica ran to her mummy, but the Doctor didn't notice her. Then she remembered that the Doctor didn't know he was a daddy and probably assumed the little girl was hers.

He stopped ahead of her, putting his hands on her shoulders and she looked at him, really looked at him.

"Never thought I'd be glad the day I saw you," she murmured. He smiled. "I thought you couldn't age."

"I can't. Not in this regeneration, anyway."

"You look older." She touched his face, much like Rose had done, only she noticed all the tiny lines, too, around his eyes, his lips.

"Worry? Stress."

"Are you here now? Tell me you're here to stay."

"We are. There's no more going back, even if I wanted to."

"We?" Jackie frowned and suddenly her worst thoughts came slamming to the forefront of her mind and he must have read it or seen it or known it and he frowned at her.

"My companion, of sorts," he said, turning a bit and gesturing to Martha, where she stood talking to Rose.

"Your…companion."

"Not like Rose, Jackie." He turned, alarmed at the tone in her voice. "Never like Rose."

She let him hug her and held him close, finally understanding why Rose enjoyed it so much. The Doctor hugged with his whole body and while he was hugging you, you were the only one in his world. She was only sad it had taken her so many years to understand it.

He let her go and turned to look at Rose, his arm slung casually across Jackie's shoulders. Rose stood holding the little girl on her hip, casually supporting her as Martha talked to both

"How long's it been, Jacks?" The Doctor asked, recalling Pete's nickname for her. She chuckled a bit and sighed.

"8 years in the spring." She looked up at him and watched as a frown flitted across his features.

"8 years? How long was it after you got here that I showed up?"

"Only a few months, why?" He looked down at her, eyebrows raised and she had one fleeting thought.

Uh oh.

"Jackie, your daughter is only 3 years old, 4 at most. If it's been 8 years, why is she so young?"

"Oops."

"Oops? What the hell does that mean?" Jackie tried giving him a reassuring smile but was afraid it came out more pained than anything. "Jackie Tyler…"

"Well, you see. Doctor." He glowered at her and she swallowed hard. "Doctor, she's yours. She's your daughter."

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_TBC. Read/review, please, let me know what you think. Thanks! _


	2. All the Wasted Time

Chapter 2 of the third part of the never ending plot bunny...enjoy!

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_Time understands._

The Doctor sat at Rose's kitchen table, slurping on the cup of tea Rose had handed him before disappearing upstairs with their daughter.

His daughter.

Question was, and one he was certainly interested in finding the answer to, was how did he have a four year-old daughter when he hadn't seen Rose in twice that?

He set his empty mug on the table as Rose came back into the kitchen and she silently took it, preparing him another cup. She handed it back to him and sat across from him, nervously worrying her lower lip.

"It's awkward, yeah?" She spoke up suddenly. He looked at her over the rim of his mug and set it down again. "I didn't expect it to be awkward."

"We've been apart longer than we were together. You had a life, a whole life without me, since I last saw you."

"So've you," she replied. She played with his mug a little and he rested his chin on his hand as he watched her.

"Never stopped thinking about you, though." He watched the smile flit across her face and she looked up at him.

"Yeah?" He nodded and she frowned a little. "You're so different, Doctor."

"8 years without you. Missed you." She smiled again. He'd have to get used to seeing her face again, her voice, her accent, her smell, her mannerisms. He had to learn them all again. He cleared his throat, dragged a hand across his face before looking at her again. "Can you tell me about your daughter?"

"Ours," Rose said. "Do you remember Cathica?"

"Cathica." He was surprised. "From Satellite 5? Is that her name?" Rose nodded and he smiled. "Good name."

"I thought so, too. She…she's four, this last spring. She looks just like you." Something flickered across Rose's face and she looked down at his mug again. He'd have to relearn her looks, too.

"What is it, Rose?"

"I just…how, Doctor? How did I have her? The last man I'd been with had been you, years before and I—"

"Honestly? I don't know. I just don't know. Maybe my library might have—"

"I've looked in everything I could find about Gallifrey, about Gallifreyan babies. Did you know typical pregnancies can last up to 18 months?"

"You didn't…"

"No, thank God. Only 15 months and…" Rose trailed off, frowning. "Doctor, there's something I have to tell you."

This time he stood to refill his mug of tea, silently asking Rose if she wanted one, but she shook her head. _He _was different? He couldn't even begin to count the ways Rose had changed.

"Do you remember, Doctor, when I told you about Mum being pregnant?"

"Yeah." He looked up, looking out the window over the sink, picturing that day. The pain that had ripped through his chest, his belly, at the thought of her being pregnant and without him. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, of course."

"I lied." Rose's voice was small, quiet and if he'd been breathing any heavier, he'd have missed her comment. With a furrowed brow, he turned round to face her, but she still sat staring at the table.

"What do you mean 'you lied,' Rose?"

"Mum wasn't pregnant. Not for a few months after that, anyway." His amazing, complex brain wasn't functioning right, he didn't think.

"What are you saying?"

"Do you remember the night before…before Torchwood? Before we…I…left?" Rose glanced up at him but looked away quickly and he sighed, setting the mug on the counter.

"Of course I do, Rose," he said softly. "How do you think I could forget it?"

"I was pregnant, I was three months pregnant. His name is Jack, he's just turned 7." She said it in a rush, hurriedly, and the tears quickly followed suit, her thin shoulders shaking with the effort of taming her tears.

"Jack…but Cathica…" Something was tickling the back of his mind, but he ignored it, watching her. "You…we…have two…?" Rose nodded and he moved over to her, lifting her to her feet and gripping her upper arms. He kissed her temple before leaning his forehead against hers. "Why are you crying, Rose?"

"I lied to you!" He chuckled softly and let her arms come around his waist, wrapping his tight around her.

"I know, but I understand why you did it. It's noble that you did it."

"Really?" She sniffled, her voice still small and weak. "I'm sorry I'm crying all over you like this, probably hardly the homecoming you expected." He pulled back from her slightly and looked down at her.

"I didn't expect anything, Rose. I never expected to find you again." She shook her head and pulled away.

"Don't say that, you'll set me off again." He watched as she gave herself busy work, fluttering around the kitchen, cleaning things she didn't need to clean when the tickling he'd felt earlier slammed into the forefront of his mind so quickly it was almost painful.

"You had Jack. You were pregnant." She looked at him over her shoulder, eyebrows raised.

"I already told you that."

"I know, I know…" he trailed off, running his hands through his hair, trying desperately to remember years of schooling he'd long since suppressed. "I need…" He stopped his frantic passing and turned to look at her. "Do you still have any of those books?"

"I have a couple, yeah." She blushed a bit and he frowned.

"What's wrong?" She shrugged a shoulder and mumbled, but he heard her. A huge grin split his face.

"You don't have to have the books anymore to keep me around. I'm here."

_Time grows. _

"I want you to know I care for him," Martha said quietly, studying Rose. Rose nodded.

"I'm glad." She glanced back over her shoulder at her little house, a small smile crossing her face. "I was so worried he would be alone."

"You really are amazing, you know that?" Martha let out a small laugh, tucked a blowing strand of hair back. "For two years, I've been trying to live up to the ideal that was Rose Tyler and knew I never would. You're a goddess in his mind and he's spent I don't even know how long looking for a way to get here…" She went on, but Rose's mind wandered off and she felt her first twinge of jealousy.

Two years? She'd barely been with him more than a year but this girl had spent two years with him. And still he came.

"But he loves you. Always has done, even if he's never come out and said it."

"Yeah, that sounds like him." After a few more trivialities, Jackie finally noticed Rose cornered by Martha and made her way over. Rose made an apology and went back into her house. She'd left the Doctor in the kitchen to go to the main house and hadn't been gone more than ten minutes, even after getting waylaid by Martha. So where had he gone?

After thoroughly inspecting the ground floor, she headed upstairs and followed the soft murmur of the Doctor's voice to Cathica's room. He stood in the centre of the room, holding Cathica to his chest, rubbing her back as her head rested on his shoulder. He was singing to her softly, but it was in a language Rose didn't understand.

A small smile on her face, she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb.

"If this isn't domestic, I don't know what is." The Doctor turned to see her and cracked a wry grin at her words, setting Cathica down in her bed, covering her with the light pink throw.

"Yeah, well." He cleared his throat. "Maybe if I'd spent more time being domestic and less time worrying about not being, we would be in an entirely different situation."

"Don't blame yourself, Doctor. It wasn't you. It was Torchwood."

The Doctor moved around the end of Cathica's bed and went to the window, staring out at the water, hands tucked into his pockets.

"It wasn't your fault; I don't blame you."

"I should've took better care of you, Rose Tyler."

"You did. You tried to save my life. Remember, you put the…the…that thing, around my neck, you and Pete tried to keep me and Mum safe. It was my own stupid head that came back."

"You're always sacrificing for me. If you hadn't been there to fix that lever, the breach would've closed and I would've been stuck with all those Daleks and Cybermen, on my own. You died for me."

"Returned favour."

He ran a hand into his hair, messing it up even more before turning to face her again.

"Do you have those books? I think I know the answers."

_Time learns_.

"Gallifreyans used to be produced in Looms."

"Looms?"

"Looms," the Doctor confirmed. "But then things started happening, infections and things, entire pods of Looms being taken offline. So they decided to make it more natural."

"Natural," Rose repeated.

The Doctor picked up a book from the table and sat next to her, opening it. He reached into the pocket of his suit coat where it hung over the back of the chair and pulled out his glasses, perching them on his nose. He flipped the book open to a page he'd marked and ran down the column with his finger until he found what he was looking for. He nudged the book toward Rose, keeping his finger in place until she started reading.

"This was thousands of years before I was born."

"You were born natural," Rose confirmed, glancing at him.

"Well, yeah. Well, I would've been anyway, my mum was human, but I—"

"You never told me that!" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

"Would it have changed anything? Does it matter?"

"Well, no, of course not," Rose reasoned. "But…it's one of those things. You know, my favourite colour is blue, I like extra salt on my chips, my mum's a human…" The Doctor just shook his head before he went on.

"Anyway, they did this natural thing for a few hundred years, but of course, the numbers were nowhere near what they'd been with the Looms. Only a small percentage of the Gallifreyan women were capable of bearing children. That number grew as generations went on, but the growth was abysmally slow." He reached over and took a book off the counter, turning back to the table and flipping through it until he found the passage he wanted, showing it to her.

"Then the Wars started—"

"The Time War?" Rose asked sharply, looking up.

"No. Well. Not the one you're thinking of. I suppose, if it were written in a book, it would be called the Last Great Time War. No, there was a period of—what?" He stopped at the look on her face.

"There should be a book." He took a sip of his tea, shaking his head.

"No," he replied. "Shortest book in existence. The Daleks attack, millions killed, President takes a solider from the front lines and puts the weight of his own world on his shoulders and then he kills himself. The End. No book."

"Killed yourself?"

"Not on purpose. Anyway, Rose. The point is, there was a series of small wars leading up to the one you know about…over a few thousand years. Gallifreyan males are shipped off to the front lines on different planets, dying left and right. The males leave, guess what happens."

"No babies."

"Exactly right. So, they developed a way for a male to…continuously impregnate his mate."

"Continuously impregnate? Mate?" Rose looked dubious and the Doctor sighed.

"You have to trust me on this. Basically, we have sex. Your body is receptive to procreating, so you get pregnant. Go through the gestation period and if you're healthy, however they did it, my sperm," The Doctor glared at Rose when she grinned at the pink tinge on his cheeks and did his best to ignore her, "knows that hey, she likes us, let's stick around until she wants to use us again."

"Which is what happened with Cathica."

"Which is what happened with Cathica. Only, it shouldn't have happened, because you're human."

"Your mum was human."

"Right…and no using that against me…but right, but it wouldn't work in her. She and Dad went to specialist after specialist, but because she was human, her body wouldn't store the…"

"Sperm," Rose supplied. The Doctor made a face at her.

"So, it shouldn't have worked with you. I don't know why it did."

"So basically, what you're telling me, is that even if we never have sex again, I could have 50 more babies."

"I don't know if there's any sort of time limit," he said. "But yeah, basically." He glanced back down at the book, skimming through the pages.

"And you knew this and didn't bother telling me?"

"I didn't think of it, to be honest. Was concerned with more pressing matters, for one. And being human, I didn't think you'd get pregnant. What I was told, my parents had a bugger of a time trying."

"Maybe the Vortex thing," Rose tried, but she only received a non-committal sound in return. She was silent for a minute as he read through a section. "Nice working for it, though."

"Hmm?" Rubbing his aching head, he looked up at her, letting his glasses slide down a bit so he could see her clearly.

"If you can keep getting me pregnant without all the work, where's the fun in it?"

"Oh." He smiled. "Yeah, I agree." She got up to get them each a fresh cup of tea and her voice was soft when she asked her next question.

"You said you'd been a dad before. When?" He tried not to sigh and he took his glasses off, setting them on the book before leaning back in the chair, crossing his arms.

"A long time ago, love. Hundreds of years before you were born."

"I know, it's just…" she trailed off as she handed his cup to him before sitting next to him again. "Does it hurt? Seeing Cathica, knowing about Jack?"

"I wouldn't say _hurt_. It makes me miss what I had, yeah. But it was a long time ago and I've managed to work past a lot of that grief." He looked up at her, smiled. "You helped me with that."

"I know," she smiled back. "But—I guess what I'm saying is…well. When you decided…I'm assuming you decided…" she glanced at him, "to come here, you didn't know about them. And…well, like I said, domesticity."

"I think maybe this is an adventure I need to try for awhile." The Doctor studied her profile as she sipped at her tea.

"But what if you get bored, Doctor? What if you get itchy or restless? I can't go off on adventures like that anymore. Not with the kids. What if something happened to me?"

"Get bored, Rose Tyler? I travelled through Hell to get to you, I hardly think you qualify as boring." He laid his arm across her shoulders, pulling her close and squeezing her tight. At the look on her face, he raised his eyebrows again. "What?"

"I can hardly believe you're here," she whispered. "That I'm hearing your voice again. Do you know, I had nothing? Not a note or a picture, nothing. You've lived in my memory for 8 years and now you've come to life. A bit like a dream, that."

He brought his hand up to cup her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek.

"I've missed you so much, Rose." She studied his face, looking into his eyes for a long time before she let the little smile cross her face.

"I know," she whispered back. His lips were a breath away from hers when the knock on the door pounded. She looked toward the door and sighing, he leaned his forehead against the side of her head before leaning back when she went to answer.

_Time hurts._

Rose Tyler got exactly what she wanted, but she couldn't tell why it made her uncomfortable. She thought of the Doctor, back at her house, sitting with Cathica as he buried himself in the books she gave him and she still wanted to cry.

Even now she wanted to cry.

Clearing her throat, she glanced at her mum, sitting on the couch next to her, watching telly.

"So, where'd Martha run off to, then?" Maybe it came out a bit snarkier than it should've but Rose couldn't help it.

She didn't care, either.

"I called Mickey. He took her off for chips. She'll hear his version." Rose felt Jackie's eyes on her, but shrugged. Jackie sighed.

"What is it, Rose? What's wrong?"

"He's just…" Rose pressed her fingers to her lips in an attempt to hold back her tears, barely succeeding. "He's so different. He's _so _different. He's quiet and he's…he's not as hyper, he's not as…all over the place. It's like he's regenerated all over again, only he kept the body. He seems resigned to the fact of staying here, not like he wants to and I'm just…I just…" Rose couldn't keep the tears back this time, gripping Jackie's arms when they came around her. "I'm just waiting for him to decide this is wrong. To get sick of me and get sick of them, after they learn to love him and to just take off for the stars and leave us behind and I can't handle that again, Mum, I can't."

"Rose…"

Rose looked up and saw the Doctor in the doorway, Cathica on his hip, and covered her mouth, sobbing. He stepped toward her and Rose just shook her head, clambering off the couch and disappearing through the back door onto the balcony.

"Jackie." She turned from watching Rose run from the room to him, standing sure and straight in the doorway.

"It's not your fault, Doctor. Not entirely." Jackie stood and took Cathica when she held her arms out to her and the Doctor ran his hands through his hair, lacing them behind his head.

"It can't be anything but my fault."

"You know, Doctor. You need to get over yourself, you honestly do," she snapped. Cathica whimpered a bit at her tone and Jackie rubbed her back, setting her on the floor to play with the ever-present variety of toys. She saw the Doctor's shocked expression and rolled her eyes.

"She's having a hard time adjusting, yeah? She's had a lifetime without you, had to do everything on her own when you should've been there—"

"I couldn't—" Jackie held her hand up, effectively cutting off his yell and he began to pace.

"It's new again, Doctor. Don't you see that? You can't just come back and expect everything the same. She changed, we changed, you changed. God bless you, you saved all of our lives, not to mention billions of others, but that doesn't mean we didn't suffer at all." Rose would probably kill her, but at this point Jackie was willing to risk it.

"She spent weeks sobbing after we were left here, Doctor. Weeks. Did you think that crying she did, when you talked to her, did you think that was new? She was like that _forever_. Then Jack came and she had something to focus her attention on, only Jack looks like you, _exactly_ like you and I'd like to know how _that's_ possible with you changing your look every other week and she has to suffer, seeing you smiling back at her everyday, only it's not you, not really. And then she gets a little better. And then Cathica comes and it's the same damned, bloody thing all over again. You think Rose is more mature? Grown up? Motherhood helped her settle down? Ha!"

He jumped a bit at her outburst, she was pleased to see, but he'd stopped stock still, looking shell-shocked when she started her rant.

"She's broken, Doctor. She's beaten. She was finally getting around to accepting that yeah, maybe you were actually dead, because that's what she's been trying to make the rest of us think she believes for years. You were gone, done and buried and it was time for her to move on, only she _couldn't_. You took my daughter from me, Doctor, you _took her _from me!"

She began to thump her clenched fists against his chest as her tirade went on, but he just gripped her arms and let her do it, without her even noticing.

"Not just the first time, I could forgive that because you brought her back. And every time after that, you always brought her back. But the minute she let go of that lever, she was gone from me, stuck with you back there, only I was stuck with the shell. I had to look at her _every day_ and know that she wasn't really there."

"So, you come back and I'm sure we're all happy about it, _we love you_, we're your _family_, but you can't waltz in here expecting everyone to be okay with it and you, you just _can't_, it's not _fair_!"

"I know it's not, Jackie. I know." Jackie's head ached and she barely registered as his arms came around her, holding her close, leaning his cheek against the top of her head.

"Truth is, I almost didn't try. I let myself believe that she'd settled down with Mickey, for a long, long time, But then I had to try and I probably should've died and that would've been okay, because then maybe Rose could move on. But I didn't die and I'm here and I'd like to think I'm meant to be here. But we all have to try, we all have to work at it."

"It's so easy for you, Doctor." Jackie whispered. "To move in and out of a person's life, not realizing the impact you have on them. It's so easy for you and so hard for the rest of us."

But she was wrong. It wasn't very easy at all.

* * *

_TBC...probably one more part. Please read/review. Thanks!_


	3. Time Has Come

Warning: a bit of swearing, but it's fleeting._

* * *

_

_Time changes._

The Doctor readily accepted the punch Pete Tyler threw at him, even if it made his aching head throb all the more. He wasn't prepared for the sobbing hug, though, and held onto Pete awkwardly as Pete got his tears out.

It was okay, the Doctor liked hugs.

He would take a thousand punches to the hell he was facing now. Little Jack stood like him, hands tucked into the pockets of his school pants, whether by accident or design, he was unsure.

"I thought you were dead."

"I know," the Doctor paused, gently fingering his bruised eye. "Everyone did. I don't know what your mum's told you."

"There was an accident, everyone was in an accident but you didn't survive."

"They didn't know." The Doctor sighed, settling onto the deck chair, crossing his legs. He was getting too old.

"Mummy lied to me." Jack turned and looked at him and the Doctor found himself looking into his own eyes. "You lied to Mum." Jack turned away again, crossing his arms over his thin chest.

"No, I didn't. Neither of us lied. I…couldn't get back and your Mum didn't know." The Doctor uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "But I'm here now, Jack."

"You made Mum cry. Lots."

"I know. I feel bad for it. How can I make it up to her?" Jack looked down, scuffing his foot back and forth, and shrugged. "You know your mum better than I do, right now. But I…" _love her_ "I…want to make it up to her. I was thinking you could help." Jack shuffled a little closer, not looking at him and the Doctor kept his eyes on him.

Everything he'd dreamed, everything he'd planned for his reunion with Rose and the rest of his family, because Jackie was right and they were and had been for a long time, was going wrong, horribly wrong. He'd never in a thousand lifetimes thought that he would be sitting on a balcony on the coast, explaining himself to his half-grown son.

"How can I help?" Jack asked, making a face. "I'm just a kid."

"You're not just a kid. I bet you're the smartest in your class." Jack didn't reply and the Doctor frowned. "I bet you're a great brother and your Gran told me how much you take of Cathica and your mum."

"I'm the man of the house. Mum said so," Jack said warily. "Since you were dead, someone had to be the man of the house to take care of them." _Oh, Rose._

"And she's right. But maybe I can help you, a little. When you need it, of course."

"Mum cries in her sleep." Jack came closer and leaned against the Doctor's leg a little, worrying a loose string near the knee of the Doctor's trousers. "She thinks I don't hear, but sometimes she cries in her sleep. Maybe…" Jack looked up, saw his dad watching him. "Maybe if you're here, maybe she won't cry anymore."

"I hope I can keep your Mum from crying, but sometimes people have to cry." Jack was silent for a minute before speaking up.

"Can you teach me how to play football?" _How the hell am I going to do that?_

"I can try. Always was a bit rubbish at it, though."

"Jamie Denny's dad plays football with him every afternoon after school." _Yay for Jamie Denny,_ the Doctor thought darkly.

"So, maybe…we could," Jack finished. The Doctor brought his hand up to Jack's shoulder, relieved when the boy didn't jerk back.

"I'd like that very much."

"Okay. I think I'd like you to stay."

"I'd like to stay, too," the Doctor replied, a grin crossing his face. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Mum says I always have to say that, so's I'm polite, not rude like…" Jack trailed off before grinning up at the Doctor. He fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Your mum will never forgive me for being rude."

_Time heals, again._

Rose watched, arms crossed, as the Doctor stood and pulled Jack into a bone-crushing hug, the boy's feet dangling off the ground. When the Doctor let him go, Jack said something up at him and the Doctor tousled his hair before Jack ran off.

The Doctor looked up at her, eyebrows raised, one hand smoothing down the back of his hair.

"You all right?" She nodded, moved a little closer.

"I'm sorry, Doctor."

"Listen, Rose. I know I…I made it hard for us to…" he rolled his eyes at her raised eyebrows. "Okay, _impossible_ for us to have any sort of non-platonic relationship. And I know I said I don't do domestic…but…I do. I do 'do domestic,' I just…couldn't… Couldn't do it then. Haven't been able to for a long time. But you changed all that and looking back, regardless of what I think or feel, we _were _domestic."

"That sort of domestic is a lot different than this sort of domestic, Doctor. I won't go off with you again and I…" She sighed. "I can't have you going off, either. Not if you're going to stay. I can't deal with the fact that one day you might not come back, again. I can't lose you like that again."

The Doctor nodded and turned, putting his hands on the railing.

"The thing is, Rose, I…" _Why the hell couldn't he say it? _

"Yes, Doctor?"

"I…oh, fuck. I love you, Rose. I love you so much, I have done since the first time I saw you."

"Took you long enough to say it." She bit her bottom lip, fighting a smile, watching him as he threw his head back and laughed.

"Yeah, it has. What would they think of me now, falling in love with a human shop girl?" He let out a breath. "So, I'm thinking this is the adventure I want." She leaned against the railing, facing him and he moved so that she stood between his arms.

"Yeah?" He nodded.

"Yeah. What better adventure than watching your children grow up?" Rose nodded, looked away.

"It's a pretty good one." He ducked his head so his gaze met hers.

"I've missed a lot. I know. I have a lot to make up for."

"Wasn't your fault, Doctor."

"Then consider it a profit for you. One Doctor at your service." His lips came down softly on hers, feeling her smile grow as he kissed her. She pulled back, bringing her hand up to his face and once more rubbing her thumb over the scar on his jaw.

"I don't want a slave. I just want you."

_Time grows_.

The Doctor looked around the garden, lifting his drink and taking a sip, studying the people who had become his family. Martha, hugely pregnant, stood at the table, mixing the salad she and Mickey had brought for the cookout.

She caught his eye and smiled and he lifted his drink to her. Mickey stood with Pete at the grill, grunting over the hamburgers and sausages and steaks, something the Doctor never quite understood and didn't think he'd ever quite get into.

How grunting at a sausage made you more manly, he wasn't sure.

Jackie and Pete's twins, Amy and Phillip, ran through the garden with Jack, kicking a football back and forth and Cathica followed them, screaming at the top of her lungs as she chased her brother.

Jackie stood talking to Rose, on the corner of the patio, each with an arm around the waist of the other. He studied Rose, her thick blonde hair, her deep, dark eyes and the gentle curve just beginning to show under her white summer dress and sweater. She looked up at him, a slow smile crossing her face and he smiled back.

If he'd been told a year previous that he would be standing there, he never would've believed it.

If he'd known when he took Rose Tyler's hand what his future had held, he would've laughed.

He looked down at the infant in his arms, with her chubby cheeks, resting comfortably on his hip and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her baby-powder smell.

But he wouldn't give it up for the world.

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_TBC. Epilogue uploaded simultaneously. Please read/review! Thanks! _


	4. Time and Time Again

The epilogue._

* * *

_

_Time begins again_.

Jack Harkness frowned, clicking on the communications link that popped up on his screen.

_Jack—_

_Hope you get this. I did a bit of jiggery-pokery, you know me. If you can find a way, keep in touch. _

_Love,_

_John_

"John?" Confused, he opened the attachment. It was a picture scan of a newspaper article and he magnified the document so he could read it better.

_Peter Tyler and Jacqueline Prentice Tyler are proud to _

_announce the marriage of their daughter _

_Rose Marion Tyler to Doctor John Smith, 31 May 2015. _

_The couple have five children, Jack Harkness Smith, 9, _

_Cathica Rose Smith, 6, Gwyneth Jacqueline Smith, 1 and_

_a set of twins on the way, as yet unnamed. They were married by _

_the magistrate in the bride's family garden, shortly after their 10th anniversary. _

_Hello, Jack, we love you. Love, the Doctor and Rose._

Jack laughed. It was about time they finally got their happy ending.

* * *

_FIN._


End file.
